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Gaza conflict brings rival Palestinian factions closer together

By Edmund SandersLos Angeles Times

Posted:
11/25/2012 12:01:00 AM MST

Hamas militants of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades attend the funeral of Hamas member Joudeh Shamallah in Gaza City. Family members say Shamallah was badly injured during the latest Israeli-Hamas fight and died from wounds Saturday. (Bernat Armangue, The Associated Press)

GAZA CITY, gaza strip — The Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah are intense rivals who control different turf and employ contrary strategies against Israel, but they have managed in their separate ways to put the Palestinian drive for statehood back on the international agenda.

The eight-day conflict between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip raised the profile of the Palestinian issue, bringing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and a stream of Arab diplomats to the region to help negotiate a cease-fire.

Last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, head of Fatah, will ask the U.N. General Assembly to approve "Palestine" — made up of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in 1967 — as a nonmember observer state.

Neither side particularly supports the other's tactics. Hamas, an Islamist group in power in Gaza that emphasizes armed struggle and refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, dismisses diplomacy as a waste of time. Fatah, a secular group that controls the West Bank, disavows violence.

Yet together, they've succeeded — at least for now — in resurrecting the Palestinian cause. The issue had been sidelined by turmoil in Egypt, Libya and Syria and a right-wing Israeli government that has shown little urgency to reach a peace deal with Palestinians.

Still, it is unclear whether recent developments will drive the rivals closer together or deepen their divisions — or whose approach to pursuing the goal of an independent state might gain strength.

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Although Hamas and Fatah leaders have publicly thanked each other for their support in recent days, Hamas sidelined Fatah from truce negotiations and prevented Abbas from gaining politically from the clash with Israel, which most Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank perceived as a resounding success.

In a sign of their tense relations, Fatah's news agency WAFA reported Thursday that Hamas leaders telephoned Abbas to endorse his upcoming U.N. bid, which they had previously opposed.

Within hours, a Hamas spokesman denied the report, saying the group opposed the U.N. campaign. On Friday, the position flipped again, when several Hamas leaders offered their blessing.

Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath, who left Gaza on Friday after a short trip to offer support to Hamas, said the two sides gradually were moving closer together.

"After the war, we have rediscovered each other's agendas," he said. "We are much closer than ever. I have never been as cordially received in Gaza as I just was. There is an opportunity here."

He said that during the clash, Hamas kept Fatah officials informed of developments and sought the group's advice.

Hamas official Ahmed Yousef agreed that the two factions had inched closer on key points, including how to handle the conflict with Israel, how to draw support from the Arab world and the need to court Western nations.

"This will expedite the national reconciliation," said Yousef, an adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. "It feels like a new spirit. We feel more like brothers than rivals."

With Hamas riding high in the eyes of Palestinians for standing up to Israel and Abbas on the verge of diplomatic victory at the U.N., both sides may soon agree on something else: elections.

"There's more interest in forming a power-sharing government and moving to elections because we both believe we are strong enough to get a majority of Palestinian support," Yousef said.

The last national Palestinian election was held in 2006, when Hamas beat Fatah. Their subsequent attempt to forge a unity government failed. A year later, after a bloody clash, Hamas seized Gaza. Repeated reconciliation attempts — including one this year — have failed, despite polls showing Palestinians strongly want the factions to mend their differences.

Despite being overshadowed during the Gaza conflict, Abbas will have his turn in the spotlight this week. And in an indirect way, Hamas' confrontation with Israel could help his U.N. bid by providing momentum.

Although the upcoming U.N. bid is largely symbolic, Palestinians hope it will enable them to join bodies such as the International Criminal Court, where they could bring a complaint against Israel for its construction of West Bank settlements.

The vote in the General Assembly will be easier for Palestinians to win than last year's attempt to gain full U.N. membership, which had to be approved by the Security Council. It was derailed by a U.S. veto.

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